Rob Herman
Rob Herman is a fictional character from Zoids: Chaotic Century and Zoids: Guardian Force. He is one of the major supporting characters in both seaspns. Overview Chaotic Century Rob Herman is the son of the last two Presidents of the Helic Republic, the former, his father having died and been replaced by the current, his mother, President Camford. Despite having such a powerful and influential heritage, Rob Herman's military career is based on merit and hard work, not relying on his family's status to rise through the ranks. He makes his first appearance in episode 6 of Chaotic Century, inspecting Van's group after a group of Republican sleeper Zoids were wiped out with (what he believed were) explosives from the Guylos Empire. At the start of the series, Herman is shown to be Captain of a Republican unit stationed at Red River. He is present at the borderline when his forces clash with the Imperial army, renewing the war. Later, he takes a part in the battle between Prozen's Death Saurer and Van's Blade Liger in episode 34 of Chaotic Century, as part of the support group sent to stop the rampaging tyrant, though, as with the rest of the army, his actual success is limited. Guardian Force After the time-jump of Guardian Force, Herman appears as the Head of Strategic Command and is now a Major in the Republican military. He helps to form a plan against Hiltz's Death Stinger as it advances on the Republican Capital of New Helic City. Later, he is put in charge of the Ultrasaurus by Colonel Krueger. Here, he appoints Moonbay as the pilot and Karl Schubaltz as the operator, and firer, of the Gravity Cannon. By the end of the series, he successfully works his way up to the position of Full Colonel. Manga In the manga adaptation of Chaotic Century, Herman first appears as a spy working for the Helic Republic, later revealed as a Republican Colonel. He is saved by Van's group from Imperial soldiers who had chased him to Porto. It turns out that he was able to spy out information concerning a Zoid known as "D" (most likely the Death Saurer), and came in possession of a small sample of its cells. He helps Van fight the rampaging Death Stinger later in the series. Personality Herman is noted to be a good, respected soldier, despite the fact that he tends to behave stubbornly from time to time. As an example, in episode 15 of Chaotic Century, he insisted on piloting the Republic's Gojulas. Here, he was rather cocky and sure of his ability as a Zoid pilot, and his recklessness caused him to accidentally topple the Gojulas while trying to give chase to the retreating Imperial army. Still, Herman obviously learned from this mistake, as he piloted a Gojulas effortlessly in episode 34 of Chaotic Century, where he even scolded Irvine for "sloppy" piloting. Depicted as a strong leader, he cares for his fellow soldiers and often expresses his skills as a fighter and a head officer. Herman is usually one to push belief in hope and honor and is usually able to come up with some sort of plan. He rarely looses his cool, and often trys to give hope even in desperate situations. For instance, while he was aboard the still-dormant Ultrasaurus, he is the one to tell everyone to stay calm, even though he knows that they need a miracle in order to wake the Zoid up successfully. Colonel Krueger, a renowned and revered member of the Republican army, believes that Herman has a lot of potential. After receiving a severe injury and having to be hospitalized, Krueger confidently puts Herman in charge of commanding the Ultrasaurus. Herman also seems to be concerned with security and organization, regardless of the fact that he can get overconfident himself from time to time. In episode 6 of Chaotic Century, after being prompted by O'Connell to capture Zeke, he turns down the request, reasoning that because tensions are so high between the Empire and Republic at current, he cannot afford to split apart his resources. In episode 27 of Guardian Force, Herman planned a more round-about route through the ocean in order to avoid a potentially dangerous area abundant in dumps of Methane Hydrate, as he was unsure about the capabilities of the Ultrasaurus. His desire to think things through, keep his comrades safe, and avoiding risks play into his strategy later in the series. Herman seems to be more comfortable formulating a plan prior to attacking; in episode 25 of Guardian Force he first scolded Irvine and Thomas for being "reckless" when they charged in immediately towards Hiltz's Death Stinger and ended up being quickly defeated. Not long after, he proposed a new idea to Schubaltz, deciding to use his own Shield Liger's shield to neutralize the barrier of the Death Stinger, leaving it susceptible to attack. Though he is usually inspiring and brave, there are times when Herman seems to doubt himself. Because he is so proud, when he happens to fail, he becomes very upset. In episode 26 of Guardian Force, he was very ashamed of his futile efforts to defend New Helic City from Hiltz. He was so let down by this failure that he begun shaking before Colonel Krueger, to whom he felt it necessary to apologize. Later on, in the same episode, he became skeptical of the functionality of the Ultrasaurus because he lost the prior battle at the capital. A running theme revolving around Herman throughout the series focuses on his belief in miracles. He calls Van "Miracle-Boy" a few times in Chaotic Century, and constantly pushes for success. His accomplishments as a military officer are in part due to his leadership attributes, and his willingness to try against the odds. Appearance Anime Herman is notably tall in comparison to the other characters from Chaotic Century and Guardian Force. He is drawn with broader shoulders and a longer face than most of the other characters, though his facial design was slightly modified in Guardian Force. His eyes are a dark green and slightly oblong, with a blue, "V" shaped marking under his left eye. Herman is among the strongest and most physically powerful humans in the series, as shown when he is wringing out his uniform after swimming to shore following the destruction of his Pteras by the Empire's invasion force. His body is well-toned, powerful, and robust. His blonde hair is styled to reflect that of the typical army-cut, shaved close to his head all along the sides. The section of hair on the top of his scalp appears to be gelled straight up to retain its shape, as it fell flat when he became soaking wet in episode 17 of Chaotic Century after falling into the ocean. In both Chaotic Century and Guardian Force, Herman wears a uniform sporting a blue, green, and yellow color scheme. As he moved up in rank, Herman's badges on his uniform changed. At first, he was given two horizontal bars as a Captain, the top yellow and the bottom white. When he reappeared in Guardian Force as a Major, a third bar was added beneath the white strip, this one a deep red. Chaotic Century In Chaotic Century, Herman wore a collared uniform colored a dusty blue on his body, running a yellow lining at the cloth's edges. The sleeves of this were grey on the shoulders, and a dull green along his arms, though covered somewhat by blue, fingerless gloves with a wide band around his wrists. Over both shoulders he had armor likely made from metal, and a belt buckle of the same grey color. His pants, with large pockets on his thighs, matched the green of his sleeves. Over these he wore a pair of blue-grey boots that came up to around his knees, armored with strips of what appeared to be grey metal. Guardian Force In Guardian Force, Herman's uniform was modified slightly. His uniform shirt now sported a green high-neck piece around his throat, from which ran four yellow stripes, one to each shoulder, and one down the center of the back and front of the uniform, the body of which remained blue. The section of cloth over his shoulders was colored black instead of grey, though the sleeves remained the same sort of dull green. He now wore armor over his elbows, and black gloves with raised grey pieces over each knuckle. His belt was changed from grey to brown and given a new silver buckle. His pants were changed to a cloth tighter and of a darker green than before, with armor padding over his knees. His boots were modified as well, changed to peak half-way up to his knees, and given a thick, dark blue rim. Manga In the Manga version of Chaotic Century, Herman retains his physical attributes. However, because the English adaption of the manga was printed in reverse to the original Japanese version, the text states that Herman's blue mark (called a "tattoo") is displayed under his right eye. Furthermore, his height is given at "around six feet." Though the color and style of his hair remain the same, his eyes are colored brown instead of green. When he first appeared in Porto, Herman wore a simple, mid-toned uniform: a high-collared, long-sleeved shirt, and matching pants that reached his heels. In addition to this, he wore a pair of sneakers, and a baseball cap to help cover his face. His shirt was fitted with a few pockets over his chest, and a patch on his right shoulder. Herman appears later wearing a Republican military uniform--high-collared, and colored mainly blue with yellow lining running along the edges. In addition, he is given a pair of grey, metal plates over each shoulder, much like in the anime. The coat is notably tighter around his chest, belted, and cuffed at the wrists. His pants, which cut off at his heels, match the color of his coat. His badges consist of a total of four stripes--one long horizontal badge, colored prominently purple across the top, with a horizontal stripe, colored red, on the right; and two vertical stripes, colored purple and green, on the left. Unfortunatly, most of Herman's uniform isn't visible in the printed manga, as nearly all the panels focus in on his face while he sits at S4's controls. Ability as a Zoid Pilot Herman is shown in the series to be a capable Zoid pilot. Anime Herman is shown piloting several Zoids throughout the series, including: Pteras, Gojulas, Gordos, and Shield Liger. In addition to this, Herman served as the commander of the Ultrasaurus, although Moonbay was the one who actually piloted the Zoid under his instruction. The Gojulas, however, seems to have become his trade-mark Zoid, much like the Iron Kong became that of his Imperial equal, Schubaltz. While Herman's Gojulas is noted for its brute strength, he proves to be a keen opponent, able to formulate a strategy even in the midst of battle. Arguably, Herman's tactical prowess exceed his piloting skills. In the debut sortie of the Gojulas, Raven mentions: "what an amateur, he wasn't under any pressure and he still grounded the Gojulas". neutralize Hiltz's shield.]] As well as piloting a Zoid successfully on his own, Herman is shown to be a reliable co-pilot. In episode 17 of Chaotic Century, he aids Van a great deal in his fight against Raven's Zaber Fang. Here, Herman gives Van numerous points of advice, first instructing Van to fire missiles to a specific point, where the Zaber Fang will land after leaping, throwing Raven off. He then tells Van to reduce his turning radius, which will improve his maneuverability, enabling Van to dodge quickly. Later in the fight, Herman informs Van of the Zaber Fang's weakness, revealing that when Raven charges, the right leg will shift slightly. Lastly, Herman tells Van to hit the Zaber Fang at that right moment when the leg moves, which punctures the armor. All of the advice Herman gives in this fight is put to good use, and would possibly help Van to become a better Zoid pilot. Herman also showed an effective partnership with Schubaltz in episode 25 of Guardian Force. Thinking quickly, Herman was able to come up with a plan to utilize against Hiltz's Death Stinger, which had since begun attacking New Helic City. He proposed to charge towards the Death Stinger deploying his Shield Liger's Energy Shield, while Schubaltz brought up the rear. Herman figured that he could use his own shield to cancel out Hiltz's by colliding with the Death Stinger. His knowledge proven correct, disabling both shields. This calculated trade off greatly favoured Herman, not only his shield was far weaker than that of the Death Stinger, but for the short time it was on, it effectively protected both he and Schubaltz from harm. Even with his Shield disabled, Herman used his proximity with Schubaltz to physically block the Death Stinger's line of fire. This allowed Schubaltz a brief opening to attack. Despite both Zoids being promptly defeated, this manoeuvre was remarkable, as it proved more effective than both the elite Guardian Force members, and the Republican Defence Forces. Manga In the manga adaptation of Chaotic Century, Herman pilots a black Storm Sworder named S4 (Storm Sworder Stealth Special). He used S4 to help Van fight the Death Stinger after it started rampaging, providing support fire and monitoring the fight from the air. He also is mentioned to pilot a Dibison named Gungho. Lieutenant Paris, who was currently in possession of the Zoid, stated that when Herman piloted Gungho, they were capable of even fighting together against a Zaber Fang. Relationships Like all characters, Herman has his own relationships: Van: Although they get off to a rocky start, Herman and Van end up teaming up together throughout the series. As Herman gets to know Van, he thinks of Van as a capable, strong Zoid Pilot. In Guardian Force he and Van seem to be on much more even footing with one another despite Van technically serving as Herman's subordinate. The two are much more joking than their initially hostile encounter and have come to trust each other's judgment in times of crisis. President Camford: Although she is Herman's mother, their relationship does not seem to be that close. In episode 18 of Chaotic Century, it is noted that Herman hasn't called her "Mom" in a long time. O'Connell: As Herman's right-hand man, O'Connell is almost always accompanying him. Herman appears to respect O'Connell, as the two work together thoroughly throughout the series. In episode 17 of Chaotic Century, O'Connell freely volunteers to search for Herman, who has gone missing after his Pteras was shot down over the ocean. Karl Schubaltz: Herman and Schubaltz faced off against one another at the battle of Red River in episode 7 of Chaotic Century. Although they were rivals at first, the two seem to become partners later in Guardian Force; they worked together to take on Hiltz's Death Stinger when New Helic City was assaulted, and then later on aboard the Ultrasaurus. Zoids Legacy Database Entry :"A Republic Captain and later Colonel. He meets with Van on the Red River Front and finds Van's incredible power. Stubborn, but is deeply trusted by his subordinates for he is always on the frontline. He is also the son of the Republic's President." Trivia *In the anime, Herman's eyes are colored a dark green; however, they are brown in the manga. *In Battle Story, Gunther Prozen is President Camford's half-brother, making him Herman's uncle. Such a connection appears to be dropped in the anime. *Herman's Japanese Voice Actor also performs several roles in Zoids: New Century, that of the Judgeman, Lineback and the Narrator. ---- Sort Category:Chaotic Century characters